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NATO uses Latvian embassy in Minsk as contact point for Belarus

Xinhua, January 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Latvian Embassy in Minsk has become NATO's Contact Point Embassy in Belarus, the Latvian Foreign Ministry said on its official website on Wednesday.

The Latvian embassy in the Belorussian capital will perform the functions from the beginning of this year to the end of 2016.

The Foreign Ministry indicated that in assuming these duties Latvia asserts its commitment to promoting NATO-Belarus cooperation and strengthening Latvia-Belarus neighbourly relations.

The embassy will be informing officials and residents of Belarus on the Alliance's policies, plans and cooperation opportunities, as well as promoting closer bilateral contacts. The Contact Point Embassy will also inform NATO member states about key developments in Belarus and help arrange NATO officials' visits.

A ceremony in which the Latvian embassy will take over the duties of NATO's Contact Point Embassy from Estonia will be held soon.

During the first half of 2015 the Latvian Embassy in Minsk also has to perform additional duties related to the Latvian presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), as the EU's Eastern Partnership program, which also includes Belarus, is one of the Latvian presidency's priorities, the ministry said.

NATO established the network of Contact Point Embassies in 1992 to support a number of partnership formats.

The role of the Contact Point Embassy is assumed by members of the alliance on a voluntary basis, for a two-year period. After joining the alliance, Latvian embassies have functioned as NATO Contact Point Embassies in Sweden (2004-2006), Finland (2007-2008), Georgia (2009-2010), Uzbekistan (2011-2012) and Kazakhstan (2013-2014). Enditem